Optimal Policies

Democracy 1 & 2 Democracy 1
1

I’m trying to figure out the optimal policies to choose.

Usually you end up screwing over Liberals, Motorists, Smokers, and Drinkers.

It’s just that it’s a lot cheaper to fight crime if the people have no rights.

Import Tariffs-Maximum
Corporate Tax and Income Tax-Slightly less than Very Fair to get rid of Tax Evasion
Sales Tax-Average
Pensions-Depends
Recycling-Depends
Car Emission Limits-Maximum
Internet Tax-Nominal
Airline Tax-Nominal
Technology Grants-Maximum(Sometimes less if Capped)
Small Business Grants-Maximum(Less if Capped)
Toll Roads-Maximum
Car Tax-Maximum
Petrol Tax-Very High
Alcohol-Strong Restrictions
Alcohol Tax-Punishing
Cigarette Tax-Punishing
Legalize Prostituion-None
Death Penalty-For Most Crimes
Gated Communities-Around Medium
Sattelite Road Monitoring-(Depends on population whether it’s profitable or not)

Never enact Luxury Tax, Never legalise drugs, Enact most crime policies that remove peoples rights because they are cheap. Do two a day prayers and creationism only because it gives a religious boost for cheap.

For equality, free school meals, education, eye tests, child benefit, and rural development grants are the ticket.

Most policies are okay if you’re unsure put them at the minimum because you usually get a free boost.

If the real world was like Democracy we would have to pray two times a day, die if we jaywalked, and pay one million dollars to drive a car, take a drink or smoke a cigarette.

2

That sounds like a very abusive government where you won’t get many votes(nor much money).

I recommend

Import Tariffs-Maximum
Corporate Tax and Income Tax - moderate to high
Sales Tax - Average
Pensions-Depends
Recycling - maximum (cheap environmental vote)
Car Emission Limits - at least moderate possibly maximum
Internet Tax - None
Airline Tax - Depends
Technology Grants- Maximum
Small Business Grants - Depends usually at least moderate
Toll Roads - depends usually none
Car Tax - moderate if any.
Petrol Tax - Moderate to very high.
Alcohol - Doesn’t matter too much, try to keep it low.
Alcohol Tax - None
Cigarette Tax - Very high
Legalize Prostitution - None
Death Penalty - depends, I don’t usually use this policy.
Gated Communities - recommended.
Sattelite Road Monitoring - I don’t bother but I haven’t looked into it.

Add: community policing - moderate to maximum
CCTV cameras - face recognition (remember big brothers watching).
ID cards - compulsory
Property tax - moderate
Farmer grants
Technology grants
Polution controls
Border controls

There are other things of course but this is the general idea.

(note: I repentantly get a low crime record).

Remember, it’s not about getting rid of the problem, so much as making people scared to commit the offense.

If people are going to be caught on murder charges (CCTV), then those extra guns aren’t going to matter as much.

3

I usually end up screwing over the middle income and wealthy people. And the motorists, of course, but that’s a given for all governments that don’t have a low life expectancy, isn’t it? :wink:

It’s mostly because I enact insurance tax because the books just don’t balance without it… And also because I have a load of my own mods that affect the ‘everyone’ group and the middle income…

And no, it’s not my fault.

<.<

.>

4

It’s just like the real world!

1 Like
5

Hahah, that may be so, but even still… I like to create the ‘Other Russia’ where the so called ‘national’ liberals and old relic conservatives have finally gone and shot themselves. I mean, gone on long vacations… :smiling_imp:

So, here for your pleasure, are my thoughts on the issue, or at least what got me most of the awards, if not all of them… I’m still looking for the ‘perfect’ combination without sacrificing my dream… Although I’d be happy to live in this society anyway.

Import Tariffs-Maximum
Corporate Tax and Income Tax - High: any higher creates the Demon Market, hah!
Sales Tax - High. Yes, it is sad that it has to be done, but people do not dodge it very easily, and it helps me help them.
Pensions-Maximum!
Recycling - Maximum!
Car Emission Limits - Maximum!
Internet Tax - This is stupid. Invest in it’s infrastructure, do not tax telecom!
Airline Tax - I did not use it. I like my people to travel, it promotes interest in culture and relations… (Not to mention prepares them for spying, ahahah)
Technology Grants- Maximum!!! I cannot stress this enough!
Small Business Grants - Maximum! As above, very important!
Toll Roads - Maximum!
Car Tax - I did not use it. I want to encourage lack of car use, of course, but for people in the distant territories who must use a lada to get supplies, even…
Petrol Tax - Again, I did not use it.
Alcohol - No limits, certainly there is a slight productivity bonus as compared to the no tolerance option, but people will drink. You cannot stop them.
Alcohol Tax - Included in my high income tax, so I didn’t use it.
Cigarette Tax - As above.
Legalize Prostitution - Certainly. It is a sad fact it has to exist, and people oddly romanticize it… But where they make mistakes is that it is just business, like any other.
Death Penalty - For homocide and rape. I wish I could add the clause ‘with large evidences’, but even still.
Gated Communities - Hahahahahah! No.
Sattelite Road Monitoring - Just high enough to get the benefits of it, without the decrease in GDP, which seems a bit odd… Wouldn’t it increase productivity and infrastructure?
Community policing - Maximum. The best type of policing!
CCTV cameras - NO.
ID cards - NIX.
Inheritance Tax - Nada.
Agricultural Grants - Maximum! The rural business is important!
Pollution controls: Maximum!
Rural Development: Maximum!
Clean Energy Subsidies: Maximum!
Agricultural Subsidies: Maximum!
Plastic Bag Tax: Max.
Car Emission Limits: Max
Labour Laws: Pro-Union Max.
Organic Farming Subsidies: Max.
State Housing: Maximum.
Pensions: Medium-High.
Unemployment Payments: Max.
Disability Benefit: Max.
Child-Care: Max.
Military Service: Ceremonial Only.
National Service: Periodic Service Max.
Foreign Aid: Medium.
All other public transports other than the listed ones is max, except Road Building, which should be limited to essential maintanence.
Drugs: Why are you not allowed to legalize, and then government-regulate drugs? This would make it a government business, and hugely destroy crime’s profits, plus earning you profits. I usually legalize Cannabis.
All public services should be max, except prayer in schools, which isn’t a policy, although I do help fund faith schools to the max, of course. Evolution in the evo-creation slider.
A full police and spy network, but armed police should be kept to 'in every department. I think I got it all…?

There we go.

6

You mentioned pensions twice. Btw, do you manage to balance the budget with all the spending? Also, I think the capitalists will try to kill you soon…

7

Sorry, heh, I thought I went over it with a fine-toothed comb…

As for the budget, what I do is slowly erase most policies, one by one, except my bare essentials, moneymakers. This makes some people angry, and others happy, but it doesn’t kill me just yet. Then, I slowly ‘reorganize’ my economy. With the increase in tech and GDP that comes from Tech Grants, Universities, and Maximized health care, I get the Nobel Prize every year, and many ‘good’ events. This keeps my economy strong as I slowly ramp up taxes and increase new policies, and build up a healthy surplus. When I have finished putting my policies into place, I’m just barely getting about 500 million a month, but I am getting it nonetheless. :slight_smile:

And as for the capitalists, it’s their job, I do not worry too much about it. Their trivial assassins bother me not.

8

On the higher difficulty levels, capitalist assassins can be a real problem. With high GDP it’s not too likely though, unless you use the policies that really piss them off.

Health Care doesn’t increase GDP, btw, but the other policies you mentioned do.

9

No, but Health care helps get the uh… I think it’s Miracle Operation event, which increases the ‘everyman’ group. :slight_smile: And they can? Uh-oh, that isn’t too good… Is there a way to, uh, decrease the amount of capitalists? I mean, logically, is most people are employed by the state, they should be state employees, not capitalists…

10

thats a very good point (re: state employees)

11

They can still have a capitalistic ideology, without necessarily having lots of money.
Miracle Operation is very good to get, of course.

12

Thank you, Cliffski: I’ve always wanted an event to nationalize workers, but that is of course, a kind of difficult stat to measure. Also, this is something it’s taken me awhile to peace together… But are you the maker of the game? Just reading through the beta feedback logs and such… If so, wow. O_O It’s cool that you come and talk/read feedback like this.

Framistan, you raise a good point. :wink: There will always be people who want money and objects just as much/more so than they want happiness and security. Also, if I am gone for a bit, blame that idiot Putin, he has ‘won’ again, and that means there will be celebrating in certain areas… I am going to fly back home and see if I can’t get in place for a little social disruption, hahaha.

13

yup I’m the games designer and programmer :smiley:

14

In my view, happiness and security depend human rights, civil rights, and similar. These rights in turn seem to be closely correlated with a strong privately owned economy and economic rights for individuals, such as protection of private property. So given the choice between money and security, I choose both. 8)

15

A privately owned economy will always be in opposition to happiness and security, for the simple fact that wealth becomes concentrated in the hands of a small minority, who then use the resulting power to trample all over other people’s rights.

16

Powerfull people tend to do that no matter how they aquired their power. Private ownership, if protected by the state and somewhat equally distributed, seems to curb the worst forms of opression, be it from the government or from vulture capitalists. Respect for economic rights seem to go hand in hand with respect for human rights, which is the important point here. I see capitalism as the ultimate recognition of the individual’s right to use his/her own potential, and to benefit from his/her own efforts, and the ultimate recognition of human potential and capacity in all its forms.

17

I have no problems with the theory behind capitalism. What I do have problems with is that in practice, for example, rich parents can afford to buy their children everything that they desire, and ensure that they get the very best education. This is clearly against the principles of capitalism but it is an inevitable result of the same.

18

You can have a capitalist incentives system with a safety net for the poor, or even mass state intervention which ensures a level playing field, through very high inheritance taxes and strong support for state schooling. In theory this means each new generation has the same chances as everyone else, and yet you are well rewarded for hard work and innovation.
Capitalism does not have to be an all or nothing system. You could happily have a very capitalist society with a very good state-owned health system. Some people would suggest that a state-run system is always less efficient and more bureaucratic than a privately run one, and I would have a lot of sympathy with that. The question is, is it still desirable to provide a universal service with state ownership despite this, or is the new labour method of ‘public-private-partnerships’ the way to do it?

19

I’ll have to explain my personal ideology at some point because it gets quite complicated. For now, I’ll say that a mixed economy is inherently unstable, because markets only work if companies can make a profit, and those profits will be used to remove barriers to greater profits (i.e. left-leaning politics).

On efficiency, there may be a slight increase in efficiency, when the conditions are right, but that efficiency benefits the shareholders far more than the average consumer.

I suppose I can explain a little…

A firm has effects on four groups; the consumers, the workers, the shareholders and the country itself. In a capitalist or semi-capitalist system, the firm has to ensure that the consumers, the workers and the country get just enough to keep them happy, without reducing profits. However, the ones they really care about are the shareholders. I can explain with a simple diagram:

In this we can see that the net benefit flows up to the shareholder. If the firm does not get a net benefit overall from the workers, the consumers and the country, then it won’t be able to reward its shareholders and they will do whatever shareholders do when they get angry.

What I propose is simply to make the consumers, the workers and the state all joint shareholders in firms. From the diagram you can see that this would result in consumers, workers and the country all receiving as much benefit from the firm as they gave in the first place.

20

Haha, and I like to take the best of both worlds, to eat my cake and bake it as well, or whatever… So, anyhow, for the same reason that it makes perfect sense that you can have patriots of any political belief, I believe that the rights of individuals should be protected above all else. As for the problem of property, it is up to every citizen who cares to manage it, and every citizen who cares to defend it, hahahaha. :smiling_imp:

Anyway, I do not know how this got to be such a conversation in my abscence, but I like it. 8)